I accidentally posted this on a different thread.
Hi acs,
We live in a smallish town, too. There's only one testing center and my kids have run into high school kids we know. I've always taken the son who is testing, wait with him until door opens, walk him to the room, make sure his registration info is correct/accepted/no problems, ask the proctor what time I should come back. They are aware of the younger kids, either by a special list from talent search if not just by size. Don't look/act nervous (even though your heart will be pounding fast) because you don't want to transfer anxiety to your son. Act as if it's the most natural thing in the world for him to spend his Saturday morning taking a test. Then, freak out after you leave him...
February is hard because it's a big HS testing date. I like the less populated dates for younger kid testing (Dec or Nov). One of our good friends' HS daughter (at 18) called me the day before testing to see if (then) DS 12 wanted a ride to the test the next day. At first I thought, How cool to show up with a beautiful young lady. Then I thought, No need to make him more of a pariah; he needs me to deliver him and make sure he's ok. We saw her and other HS kids we knew at the test center and they were so nice. I actually think DS's presence made them more nervous than they made him. One kid actually said, "How humiliating that that little kid is going to do better than I will". (It wasn't meant to be mean, but just nerves).
Be there when the test lets out.
